Sechaba trade volumes decline

SHARE | Monday, 14 August 2017 | By Staff Writer

Total volumes for Sechaba Brewery Holdings Limited (SBHL) have declined for the half year period ended June 30, 2017. According to the just released company’s financial results for the period, volumes declined by 6.3 percent compared to the prior period. SBHL, whose sole associate is Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL), announced that the decline was seen across all categories with the exception Non-Alcoholic beverages. The producers of beverages such as Chibuku saw the decline in volumes impact negatively on its financial performance with profit after tax going down by 13.9 percent. The decline is blamed on the current regulatory environment in which the company operates such as trading hours and many others. The alcohol levy, which has been a thorn on Sechaba operations, has been amended after the brewer reached a truce with government regarding the level. The Alcohol Levy Regulation was amended effective 1 April 2016. The levy rate for beverages with alcohol content of 5 percent and less is changed to 50 percent, meaning that the likes of St Louis and Castle Lite are levied at 50 percent. On the other hand, those with content of 5 percent and above like Black Label remained at 55 percent. In addition, the levy on locally produced alcoholic beverages was amended to include duty payable in terms of Customs and Excise Duty Act. The company says this would continue to have a significant impact to its financial results. Sechaba board of directors led by chairman, Thabo Matthews, has during this period declared a dividend of 28 Thebe per share. Despite the challenges that the company faces, investor confidence in Sechaba is believed to have remained high. Last year the company was rated as the 15th best performing stock on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) main board, trading 7,052,492 shares traded, generating a turnover of P205,318,873 compared to 12,067,856 shares worth P302,306,643 over the prior year.